In December's newsletter, CDKN present you our coverage and analysis from Durban and highlights the new CDKN publication series, Inside Stories, which go the heart of real-life climate compatible development scenarios. Enjoy! 

CDKN’s analysis from Durban
CDKN supported negotiators from the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to voice their concerns in Durban via our Negotiations Support programme. The LDC Group played a central role in forging the CoP’s final agreement: the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action.

The Durban Platform outlines a roadmap for parties to the UNFCCC, including the world’s largest emitters, to agree a legal framework for emissions reductions by 2015. The agreement is welcome, but given the fast pace at which greenhouse gas concentrations are rising, the timeline for agreement is not fast enough. A manageable global climate will rely on countries taking many unilateral actions.

Read CDKN’s final analysis on the outcomes of CoP17 here , along with our preliminary assessment of what countries must do, barring a rapid global agreement.

CDKN at CoP17
CDKN supported many developing country governments to share their experiences in climate compatible development at side events to CoP17.  These ranged from discussions about developing country government options, to deep-dives into country experience from Rwanda and Kenya, and exploration of vulnerability and resilience.

Visit our CoP17 video page for links to videos from our side events.

Read Chief Executive Sam Bickersteth’s blog on the ways that ‘top-down’ action from governments is meeting ‘bottom-up’ action from the private sector and civil society, and Neil Bird’s blog on national initiatives for climate compatible development in developing countries.

Mairi Dupar reports on how environment and human rights laws are bolstering climate compatible development in her blog from the Climate Law and Development Conference in Durban.

See CDKN and the Environmental Education Media Project’s (EEMP) new short film: Rwanda: emerging in a changing climate, which was featured at the Government of Rwanda’s UNFCCC side event, supported by CDKN, which launched the country’s Green Growth and Climate Resilience Strategy.

New briefing series: ‘Inside stories on climate compatible development’
When decision-makers in government, business and civil society speak to CDKN about their aims and needs, they often ask about ‘best practice’ in climate compatible development in other countries or, indeed, mistakes to avoid. That’s why we commissioned a set of policy briefs on recent experience in climate compatible development with World Resources Institute, theCentre for International Sustainable Development Law and the International Development Law Organisation. In Durban, we released the first in the series, exploring:

India – transforming into a solar power
China – building the world’s largest wind power market
Tanzania – becoming a global forerunner for REDD+ through a national readiness strategy
Niger – moving from vulnerability to resilience through farmer managed natural regeneration
Mexico – producing the first regional climate accord in Mexico
Zambia – using an integrated system of agroforestry to reduce climate change vulnerability and insecurity

Bangladesh – developing a comprehensive disaster management programme

New publication: The Green Climate Fund: options for mobilising the private sector
Katherine Sierra of the Brookings Institution has released a CDKN briefing paper on options for mobilising private sector investment via the Green Climate Fund. The paper was released in Durban, to inform discussions about barriers to and options for mobilising private capital.

CDKN’s Chief Strategy Advisor, Celine Herweijer, also contributed to this subject with an article outlining how realism, ambition and innovation are needed to mobilise the $100bn pledged to the Green Climate Fund at Copenhagen, particularly regarding its Private Sector Facility.

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Image: Reflection in water tank. Ghana. Photo - Arne Hoel-The World Bank